NAME: Jimenez, Ross John C.

Year-Course-Section: 3-BSMA-A

Samuel’s Approach to Project Management

Joe Samuel was once again asked to be a project manager on a large project. This
was the fourth time in the last 14 months, and he was glad to add this type of work
experience to his résumé, but he dreaded the interpersonal relationship issues that
always came up on projects. He felt like he was the project’s babysitter, always
checking on progress, making sure everyone on the team was happy and understood
each other’s roles, handing out assignments, and soon. Joe then remembered an
article he had recently read about “tried and true project management practices.” He
thought “tried and true” had to be more managerially comfortable than his past
experiences. He decided to accept the new project so that he could try out the new
ideas.

The project Joe accepted was to make a decision on whether or not to close one of
the company’s distribution centers in order to improve responsiveness of their supply
chain. Joe had been a manager of a supply chain service, so he felt very qualified to
lead this effort. He defined the scope and deliverables of the project and detailed all
of the major tasks of the project as well as most of the detail level steps in the project
plan. At the first project team meeting, Joe felt very comfortable about the control and
direction of the project, much more than any of the previous projects he had managed.
He had specifically defined objectives and tasks for each member of the project team.
He even determined completion dates for each task. He wrote individual “contracts”
for each team member to sign as an indication of their commitment to completion of
the designated tasks by
the assigned schedule dates. The meeting went smoothly, with almost no comments
or questions from the project team. Everyone picked up a copy of their “contract” and
went off to work on the project. Joe felt great and was pleased with the success of his
new approach to project management.

Questions: How do you think Joe will feel six weeks after the project is underway?
Compare his new approach to project management with his previous approach.

After six weeks, I believe Joe will be feel pleased and grateful since he
successfully assigning the project's defined goals and objectives to each project team
member. The project's tasks are also clearly instructed and specified for each project
member, ensuring that they gonna completed them in a timely and efficient manner.
In addition, the work tasks were also given to the project team members amd they
agreed to finish them as soon as possible. Lastly, Joe feel pleased and grateful at the
same time because his project team members are cooperating and showing the spirit
of teamwork and camaraderie, and everything's according to plan went smoothly and
successful as well.
The following below shows the comparison of Joe’s new approach to project
management with his previous approach:

1. From the team members' perspective, they were assigned or given work
assignments and they just agreed to try to complete them.

2. His new strategy, which includes individual "contracts" for each team member
rather than acting as the primary babysitter, will be more successful than his
previous strategy.

3. In this new project, Joe has not employed any of the empowerment tactics,
such as including the team members in deciding how to attack and solve the
job, and he surely does not have the commitment of the team members.

4. Compared to his previous approach, Joe used a method with this new project
in which he clearly outlined the objectives and assignments of each member of
the project team, as well as the completion dates for each work.

5. In terms of project management, his new approach is much more effective and
efficient compared to his previous approach. In his new approach, Joe adds
new and fresh strategies that will help them to accomplish the project
successfully and timely.